The Art of Falling
by Lifeless Love17
Summary: To Ophelia Jaycee Abbots, life was normal. She lived with her mum in a nice flat in London, she went to school with normal people her age, and nothing was out of the ordinary. That is, until she reached her 16th birthday. . .
1. Chapter 1

_Full Plot: To Ophelia Jaycee Abbots, life was normal. She lived with her mum in a nice flat in London, she went to school with normal people her age, and nothing was out of the ordinary. That is, until she reached her 16__th__ birthday. That was when things started to change. She could swear she heard a man talking to her whenever she needed someone other than her mother to talk to. It was definitely freaky. Something happened while on a class visit to the National History Museum. Then she found out that her father was actually a Greek God._

**Disclaimer: As I am not male, nor am I American, I do not own the PJO series. I only own Ophelia, Toni, Jaycee and other characters that are not in the original series.**

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My name is Ophelia Jaycee Abbotts. I'm not your average 16 year old. For one, I have ADHD and Dyslexia, so it's hard for me to sit still for more than 10 minutes, and it's hard for me to learn in school. I love learning, so it's hard on me. I was brought up by my mother, Jaycee Abbotts, in a large apartment in London. I've lived there all my life. I never knew my father, but he's left us some things – some money (Okay, _a lot_ of money), poetry books, musical instruments and some very useful medicine. I didn't know what it was all about, but I didn't question it. At even the thought of my father, mum would burst out crying. Maybe he died or something.

He must have died recently, though, because I received a few odd gifts from him on my 16th birthday, which was yesterday; two identical chopsticks, a bow with a quiver (arrowless), a diamond bracelet, and some really nice ancient Greek styled clothes – some of them used in battles. I know what you're thinking: "Why are they so odd?" Simple – the chopsticks, bow and quiver are pure silver with intricate designs on them, like ivy or a laurel that was straightened out. The bracelet was also silver and the diamonds formed a similar design. Whenever I took off the bracelet, it would always appear back on my wrist within seconds, as if I didn't take it off to begin with. What kind of father would give his daughter these gifts? I mean, sure, my archery is the best anyone has ever seen, but I can be extremely klutzy. I don't even trust myself with plastic scissors.

The same message would be written on old paper. It was confusing and in a language that I understood, but my mother couldn't read.

_For the one who heals_

_For the one who will save the _

_World. My daughter. Dad. _

It was... confusing. I didn't understand what it was talking about. Saving the world? Healing? That does not sound like me at all. I wanted to ask my dad what the message meant. How could I save the world? He must be thinking of another daughter he has.

I was looking forward to school today. We were going to the National History Museum for History class, to see the new Ancient Greece exhibition that opened yesterday. I have always loved reading about Ancient Greece and all their myths. I know about every God, Minor and Olympian, the Titans, monsters, and more. It's been a fascination of mine since I was young. I share this fascination with Toni, my best friend. While my favourite Gods are Athena (For her wisdom), Hades (Because he's misunderstood) and Apollo (Because somehow, I have a weird connection with him), Toni admires Pan. Don't get me wrong, Toni's a great guy and all, but once you start talking about nature and Pan, it's like hearing a fan girl talk about some stupid celebrity like Robert Pattinson (major bleugh, by the way). He just won't shut up.

Have I told you about my mum? She's a doctor at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, so she has to leave super early in the mornings and comes home really late at night. She has brain cancer, but she refuses treatment. She says that she was given this illness for a reason, so she just grows sicker each day, waiting for death. I hate it. I try to give her the medicine dad gave us, but she won't take it. Even if she did, I honestly believe that it wouldn't work anyway.

"OJ, hurry up!" The deep voice that belonged to Toni pulled me away from my thoughts. Somehow, while I Was thinking, I managed to leave my apartment (changed out of my ducky pyjamas and into my totally awesome outfit; bright purple skinny jeans, black knee top converses and a one-shouldered toga-like shirt that balled up at my hips – similar to the togas Greek Gods/Goddesses would wear, but in t-shirt form) and arrived at the National History Museum with my history class.

When I get into my thoughts, I really do stay there until Toni or someone else pulls me away from them.

"Oh, Sorry," I apologised as I jogged up to the entrance and held the door open for Toni. Bless him; he has something wrong with his legs, so he can't walk properly. He has to use crutches to walk around, mainly because he feels stupid in a wheelchair.

When we caught up with the rest of our class, our teacher, Professor Dunstance, was talking (more like droning) about Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. I mean no offence to him, he's the best teacher we've ever had, even if he is wheelchair bound, but I wondered off, away from the class and Toni. I already knew everything about The Big Three, and everything else. Besides, I was more of a 'wander round and look' type of person, rather than a 'stand and listen' type of person.

I stopped in front of a replica of Apollo's Lyre, covered by what looked like an extremely heavy glass box. I stared at my reflection in the glass. My hair, usually long, curly and sandy blonde, was tied into a bun, secured by the two chopsticks. I recently dyed my hair electric blue, which brought out my green eyes – my mum and Toni commented on how they were the same colour as bay leaves one too many times. My skin was lightly tanned, most probably from all the sunbathing I did at the weekend.

I looked away from the lyre and my reflection as I heard a noise from the empty exhibit room beside me. I looked around cautiously, making sure that no-one was watching me before I slipped through the heavy doors.

The room was full of wooden boxes, holding more artefacts that had yet to be put out on display. I yearned to see what was inside them, but I daren't. Knowing me, I would break them before I even had the chance to open the box.

I heard the noise again, making me look towards the far end of the large room. I then heard a noise from behind me, causing me to turn on my heels, only to be met with the pale white wall, centimetres from my face. I was beginning to become more than a little scared. The noises continued to echo around the room, almost as if it was jumping from one place to the next. I didn't know where to look; left or right, front or behind, up or down.

"_We've found her. Now, if we can just get her unconscious, taking her back to the Camp wouldn't be as difficult as Toni said._" I looked at the window opposite me when I heard the whispering. The owner of the voice sounded like a girl, from America, maybe. I heard the sound of Lego being snapped together, but I knew that it wasn't Lego. It was something else. "_Be ready to catch her, Sky."_

Before I took a step towards the window, something hit me in the neck. I looked down, seeing that a small, thin wooden stick had hit my neck. A tranquilizer. I collapsed onto my knees, hearing Toni call my name before I couldn't see or hear or feel anymore.

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**Author's note: Hi. Sorry if that was a pretty crappy chapter. I wanted to get it right, after many, many times of rewriting and redrafting. I hope that it is fine. I think you can tell who Ophelia's father is, I mean, I left a few hints in there. **

**Please be nice. (:**

**Oh, and about my thing about Robert? Take no offence if you're a fan of his. I can't stand him, and that is my opinion. So if I receive hate comments about it, then you guys are pretty stupid. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series.**

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When I awoke, I wasn't aware of my surroundings. I knew I was moving at a fast speed. The wind was playing with my hair and my arms and legs were hanging over something. I don't remember much – only being in the National History Museum with my History class. I was there, walking through the corridor, and then I was here – Wherever here was.

I made the mistake of opening my eyes. I stared down, terror in my eyes as I flew over a forest of some sort. I presumed I was flying, anyway. I sat up quickly, startling whatever I was lying on. I looked down and found myself sitting on a horse. But this wasn't an ordinary horse. This horse was grey, and it had wings. _Wings!_ What kind of horse had wings? I looked to my left and saw a black horse-with-wings with two people sitting on its back. One of them was a girl with blonde hair, the other seemed familiar, really familiar. I don't know how, because I don't remember seeing someone with goat legs before. Then he turned to look at me.

"Sleeping beauty wakes!" Toni gave me a guilty smile, "Sorry we had to knock you out, OJ, but I know what you're like. You would have either killed Annabeth and Sky, or you would have killed yourself. We don't really need that. Not when you haven't even arrived at Camp yet."

"I can't believe that someone is that terrified of flying." A deep voice spoke from behind me. I turned my head to stare at one of the most handsome people I had ever seen. His eyes were a light blue, the colour of the sky on a cloudless day. His hair was long-ish and black. His hair was styled as if he was a skateboarder and wore a beanie hat all the time. There was no beanie present, however.

"I had an incident when I was three years old and I swore to never fly again." I heard myself speak, my voice shaking. I really wasn't comfortable at being this far away from the ground.

"Not everyone is as comfortable being in the air as you, Sky." The girl, Annabeth, spoke. "Just because your father is Zeus doesn't mean that everyone has to like flying. You know other Demigods don't fly because Zeus doesn't like them."

Demigods? Zeus? I must have hit my head earlier. This wasn't making any sense. We were on flying horses – Pegasi, as I remember – and this Sky person was meant to be the son of Zeus. The Gods are myths. Make believe. They don't really exist... do they? And what was this camp Toni talked about?

"But flying is amazing! It gives you this adrenaline rush that makes you want to scream and shout and just laugh," Sky said, chuckling a little

"It makes me want to be sick," I looked straight ahead, not daring to look down.

"We're almost at the camp." Toni said, just as the Pegasi started to descend. "You'll be fine once you have your feet firmly on the ground."

I didn't believe Toni. I had this weird, gut instinct that I'm safer in the air. I felt like something was going to attack us once we landed, or even before we had the chance to land. Why we were going to stop in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere, I had no idea.

"What camp? What exactly is going on?" I saw Toni and Annabeth looking at each other. That clearly wasn't comforting. "Are you going to answer me?"

"There's this camp," Toni began reluctantly, "For children who are half mortal, half God. It's called Camp Half Blood. It's where Demigods train and learn to survive in their world. Normally, you're supposed to go there when you're around 12 or 13, but your mother begged the Gods to let you stay until you turned 16."

"Gods? 16? My mum? This hasn't got anything to do with her cancer, does it?" Toni and Annabeth looked at each other again. "Toni, what's happened to my mum?"

"She made a promise to your father. She promised that once you turn 16, you will go to Camp like you were supposed to and her time on Earth would be... over. She let him give her cancer so she would see you grow up, and she would die once you arrive at Camp. She brought you up, just like she was supposed to, like she promised to, and ... it was her decision, OJ. She's proud to know that her daughter, her only child, is one of the few that can save this world from mass destruction. She was ready to let go. She knows you'll make the right decisions as an adult."

I couldn't believe it. My father gave my mum cancer, just so she can die once I left for this Camp? What kind of person would do that to someone he supposedly loves? Why would my mum do that? She had cancer because of me? Because I was born. Because I was supposed to go to this Camp. Because she wasn't ready to let go. And now, she's... dead. Because of me and because I'm supposed to save the world?

"I know this is hard for you, but you can't let your mum die in vain." I looked towards Annabeth, tears in my eyes. "You have to train and survive to make her proud in the Underworld. Make your father proud. To you, those are the only people that matter."

"And because of me, my father willingly gave my mother cancer and let her die as soon as I left home. If I wasn't born, my mum would be alive, and my dad would still be with her. I'm the reason he left, after all."

"He left because he had to. Everyone's God parent did. You're lucky. You had 7 months with your father. Some of us didn't even have a week with our father, or mother." I tried to ignore Sky's voice, but I couldn't. "Sure, your mum died. Sure, your dad didn't visit. That doesn't mean they aren't with you in your thoughts or in your dreams. Don't give up on life because they aren't there physically."

"Since when were you deep?" Annabeth asked Sky. Something told me that he wasn't that deep often.

"Since I wanted to cheer her up, and to get her mind off our descent." I looked up from staring at the back of the Pegasus' head to notice my surroundings. We definitely weren't in the sky anymore. We were in a stable, with other Pegasi around us in their stalls. I felt Sky's body move from behind me. He reached his hands up to help me climb off the Pegasus' back. When my feet were on the ground, I felt myself stop shaking. There was no way I was going to go flying on a Pegasus ever again.

"Well, now that we're here, let's get you to Chiron," Toni said, walking over to me. He gave me a sympathetic smile, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, but its better that you heard it sooner than later. You look like you need a drink. Tea?"

"You so know me," I smiled weakly at him. "But I should meet this Chiron person first. Isn't he a centaur?"

"Yup, and you'll love him. Everyone does. He's like a really cool uncle." I followed Toni, Annabeth and Sky out of the stables. I wasn't listening to what they were saying about Chiron. I couldn't stop thinking about my mum and how she made that terrible promise with my so-called father.


End file.
